ST opts for foundries
1 min read
ST Microelectronics plans to deliver micro fuel cells to the market in 2009, as well as samples of plastic electronics devices next year.
Addressing a recent investors and analysts meeting, Carlo Papa, executive vp of ST's industrial and multisegment sector – which is working on fuel cells and plastic electronics – claimed his group would grow at three times the rate of the market this year through changing from being a supplier of standard products to a group capable of producing devices with more technical content.
"The shining star over the last two years," he claimed, "has been MEMS. This has shown tremendous growth and these products go anywhere you want to track force."
Meanwhile, ceo Alain Dutheil said the company is to abandon developing its own cmos technology in favour of accessing 32nm technology through an alliance with 'an industry leader'.
However, he noted that ST would continue to develop proprietary cmos process derivatives – including mixed signal and image processing – where they offered 'an advantage'. "This will move our focus," he noted, "to product development and we can have a new capital strategy in which we will increase the use of foundries."
